Electrical connector



Aug. 14, 1945 C. R. 'PIEPER ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Filed June 9, 1943 m Y E .fu

/IV VEA/T05; CHEs TER R pl PERA Patented Aug. 14, 1.945

UNITED STATES PATENT l OFFICE 2,382,095 ELECTRICAL ooNNEoToR Chester Pieper, Warrenton, Mo. Application June 9, 1943,seria1No. 490,390

5 claims.

My invention relates to improvements in electrical connectors and more particularly to an improved device of thischaracter which is especially adapted for connecting a tap wire to an overhead line while the latter is energized.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved wire connector of this type which can loe made smaller, lighter, with fewer parts and less metal than former types of socalled hot-line clamps, yet which is'superior to these earlier devices in facility of installation, durability and operating eiiiciency.

This object is attained by improvements in the form and arrangements of the several operating parts whereby both tap and line wires are clamped between a single pair of jaw elements operated by a single clamping nut; whereby the jaws are adapted to adjust'themselves to wires of various size combinations, and extremely high clamping pressures are obtained with moderate turning force applied to the nut. A further improvement resides in the concealed and protected threaded portions of the device which minimizes the deteriorating effects of weather on these vulnerable parts. A

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment of my invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational View;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken at line 4 4 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken at line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

The connector herein shown and described is an improvement of the device described in my Patent No. 2,306,497 of December 29, 1942, and embodiesla number of changes which render it especially suitable for use on live overhead' lines. Referring now to the drawing by characters of reference, the connector device of my invention comprises an upper, hood-like body memberv I having an integral depending stem II. A lower clamping jaw I2 conforms in shape to, and is adapted to t within the hollow formed in the underside of the body member, the stem or shank portion I I extending loosely through an elongated opening I3 in the lower jaw. Such stem portion is provided with threads I4, and a clamping nut I screws on the threaded stem II below jaw I2. The nut I5 has a ring-shaped head portion I6 whereby it is adapted to'be attached to and manipulated by a standard tool of a type cuslpresented at the forward end of the assembly which is of sufficient size to admit a wire A laterally'into the channel formed between the jaws,v

yet angular dislocation of jaws relative to each Iother is prevented.

Describing now the preferred shape of the jawsin greater detail, it will appear that the member I0 is formed to provide a downwardly turned lip I9 at the forward end, and cheek flanges 20 at the sides, such anges having recesses 2| to receive the wire A and allow it to seat against the inner surface of lip I9. Toward the rear of the body member, the side flanges 20 converge and slope downwardly and outwardly so that an inclined V-shaped channel is formed where these flange portions join together. An opening 22 at tcp of the body leading from the upper end ofthe inclined channel, provides a continuous passage.

through the body so that a wire seating in the channel may extend `throughthe opening 22 and be doubled back as shown. In this manner a tap conductor such as B is adapted to be initially attached `to the connector body and held in a position for subsequent clamping.

The lower jaw' I2 has a nose-shaped rear end portion, the converging sides of which are inclined in conformity with the angularity and inclination of the body flanges. vThe sloping ridge of such nose portion extends along and bears against the wireseated in the adjacent channel and'such ridge-is desirably provided with a 1ongitudinal groove 23 to increase the area of its contact with such wire. At its opposite end, jaw I2 has 'a downwardly and outwardly sloping beveled surface 24 which faces toward the wire-receiving surface of lip I9, these surfaces coacting to clamp the wire A.

In using the described connector as a live line clamp, as, for example, where a transformer is to be connected in to an overhead line without interrupting the service to other conductors fed from such line, the procedure would be as follows. The nut I5 is unthreaded to the limit of its outward travel von the shank I l, allowing jaw I2 to drop downwardly to full open position. A

ing nut.

tap wire such as B, leading from a primary terminal of the transformer, is initially attached to l the connector body I by passing the free -end of wire B upwardly through opening 22 and bending the end as shown, temporarily to secure the tap Wire to the connector. The connector is then installed on the end of a long-handled linesmans tool, a conventional type of which has an end socket to receive the eye portion I6 of the clamp- The connector, with the tap wire B trailing therefrom, is then manipulated by means of such a tool so that thelip I9 is caused to be hooked over the line Wire A which seats in the y transverse channel of the connector body. The tool is then twisted to tighten the nut and force the jaw I2 upwardly into the hollow of the con` nector body and wedge-wise between the 'wires A and B. As the jaw is moved upwardly into contact with the wires it is free to shiftgwithin the body, as by camming engagement of one or the other of the wires with an adjacent inclined end surface of the jaw. Such shifting movement occurs until the jaw becomes adjusted to a position of solid engagement with both wires. Such shifting of the jaw is possible by reason of the elongated or slotted shape of the opening I3, and

` is facilitated by the flat and smooth character of the interengaging surfaces ,of the jaw and nut. It will appear that the wedging clamping action of the jaw I2 with respectto the wires enables high clamping forces to be obtained without the application of unduly high turning forces to the nut.v Consequently a tightconnection is possible without bending or kinking the line Wire. Y It will also appear` that the screw threads on the shank I I and nut I are well protected from the weather so that the normaltendency of these parts to corrode and `bond together is kminimized. Accordingly, the connector is capable 0f being removed following a period of service without impairing the device or injuring the line wire.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to'secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A rwire connector of the class described,

comprising a body member having downwardly jaw upwardly into wedgng engagement with wires seated in said channels.

2. Inv an electrical connector, a body member having depending anges at its opposite ends and a depending threaded stem. between said flanges, one of said flanges providing a wire seat nel-shaped wire seat extending at right angles to extending at right angles to said stem, and the opposite nange being formed to provide a chanthe rst said wire seat, a clamping element having upwardly convergent wire-engaging surfaces, and an opening between said surfaces, through which opening said stem loosely extends, and a nut threaded on said stem for drawing the clamping element inwardly of the body member and into wedging, clamping engagement with wires disposed in said wire seats.

3. An electrical connector comprising a body member y*having a threaded stem, and anges spaced at vopposite sides of said stem, one of said flanges providing a wire seat extending at right angles to the axis of said stem, and the other flange being formed to provide a V-shaped Wirereceiving channel extending in the plane of, and at an angle to the 4axis of said stem; va clamping element loosely mounted on said stem and movable therealong into the space between said flanges, said clamping element having sloping, Wire-engaging surfaces of converging trend, and a nut on said stem for forcing said clamping element into wedging engagement with wires seating against said body flanges.

4. A wire connector of the class described comprising an upper jaw structure having a downwardly turned lip extending across one end, providing a horizontal wire-receiving channel at the undersurface thereof, the opposite end of the upper jaw structure being formed to provide an inclined wire-receiving channel extending at a right angle to the lfirst said channel, and an opening extending from the upper end of said inclined channel to permit a wire therein to be projected through the top of the upper jaw structure; a lower jaw member having inclined, relatively convergent surfaces adapted to engage wires disposed in said channels, a threaded stem extending vertically from one -of said jaw members through an opening between thewiref-engaging surfaces of the other jawmemben anda nut on said stem, adapted to force the lower jaw member Wedgingly into clamping engagement with wires seated in said channels.

5. A wire connector of the character described comprising a body member having a depending threaded'stem, downwardly directed side flanges that converge at one end of the body and provide a downwardly and outwardly sloping wire channel at the junction'oftheir inner surfaces, an opening in the body leading from the upper end of said channel, a downwardly and outwardly directed lip at the opposite end of the body, formed to provide a transversely extending wire channel, a jaw element shaped to t'the cavity in thev underside of the body as formed by said.

side flanges and lip, said jaw element having a longitudinally slotted opening through which said stem portion extends, and upwardly convergent end surfaces for engaging the wires seated in said channels, a clamping nut on said stem seating against the underside of said jaw, and means limiting unthreading ofthe nut to prevent complete withdrawal of the jaw from said body cavity. Y f

CHESTER R. PLEPER. 

